Say Hello

Excuse the absence.  I have been hanging out with this little lady...

Avery Adeline

Born 10.31.12 at 9:04am via emergency c-section

7lbs 10 oz.

It has been a whirlwind! 

Halloween Finds

Two things: 1. I have a lot of time on my hands...2. Halloween, although one of my favorite holidays, just isn't happening this year. So Pinterest seems to have taken over satisfying my love for all things weird, creepy and unnerving.  

Pregnancy: Week 38...still waiting

Still no baby but the last few days I have woken up to some beautiful snow.  I was hoping that today would be the day but as of this afternoon no progress.  I am trying to stay positive and take it one day at a time. I spent a good 10 minutes bouncing on the exercise ball earlier today and I have been taking evening primrose oil to try and get things going.  A good friend of Bradley and mine is getting married tomorrow so most likely things will start then otherwise we are going to talk to the doctor about inducing during week 40 (I'm 39 tomorrow) on Monday.  Earlier this week I wasn't feeling little lady move around as much.  This happens from time to time and usually little bean is just having a quiet day or a growth spurt however this time it was making me uneasy for some reason.  The doctor had me come in for a non-stress test where they hook you up to some monitors and check the baby's heart rate. Her heart rate was fine but she still wasn't moving around a whole lot.  So the doctor decided to do an ultrasound just to be sure.  I wasn't going to complain.  It has been 18 weeks since I have seen that little baby face.  They checked her lungs, heart and movement after making me drink a bunch of gross grape juice.  Ultimately she was fine.  She was really just having a mellow day and not over reacting.  Once again...just her father.  I adore her already! Hopefully she can deal with her wackado high strung mother.

Little Lady's Nursery

I think Little Lady's nursery is finally done! Now we just need Little Lady to show up.

Currently...

1. At our newborn care class.  I think I know how to hold this baby now  2. Bradley's steam punk accessory explosion  3. Bradley has the hang of it too  4. Making burp cloths   5. First snow!  6. I got my official mail in ballot. Voting is exciting!   7. Chenille explosion   8. Mitt Romney killing a small forrest in my mailbox   9. I love fall.

Loving: The weather! Who doesn't love fall? This summer was so hot and miserable that I will gladly take 60 and 70 degree weather.  I still have my own personal furnace going on so I haven't really pulled out too many socks or cozy blankets but it has been nice to pull out all my cardigans.

Reading: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.  I picked up this book this summer but just never got to reading it.  It is a big book at over 800 pages but I think it is really good historical story of the building of a cathedral in the 12th century and the character development is really well done.  I dig it.

Watching: Fall shows are finally here! I just finished watching the season finale of Project Runway today (not sure how I feel about the outcome) and I am excited for the next all stars season.  I have also been watching Boardwalk Empire, Survivor, New Girl, and Bradley makes me watch the Walking Dead every week.

Thinking About: Christmas. Ya I said it.  I am excited and terrified of it this year.  I just don't know what it is going to look like with a tiny baby and I am wondering how in the world we are going to pull off Christmas shopping.  I have a feeling a lot of people are going to be getting gift cards or gifts ordered directly from Amazon.  It is also blowing my mind that I am going to have a child to christmas shop for! It is a weird thought.  Not that she is even going to know what is going on but it is just so unfathomable that I am going to have a baby to enjoy the holidays with!

Anticipating: This is a really easy answer.  I'm just going to do with the birth of my first baby.  This might sound terrible but I have no birth plan.  I have an idea of my preferences like I know I want my own pillow and music but that is about it.  Otherwise epidural...no epidural...c-section...I don't know.  I am just going to go with the flow at the time.  Our good friend is going to be our doula so I figure she will be able to help when the time comes.

Listening: I know I have said this before but I will get a song or two stuck in my head and then listen to it till it is dead in the ground.  Last week it was Sufjan Steven's Casimir Pulaski Day and the past few days I have been listening to Peter Bjorn and John's Tomorrow Has to Wait

Working On: This is just downright sad to admit but I am in between projects right now. I just finished up making a few more burp cloths for little lady.  Sadly I just don't have a whole lot of energy right now to do a lot.  Tomorrow we are picking up 30lbs of apples for a school fundraiser.  I have a lot of juicing ahead of me since I am going to turn the majority of it into hard cider.  Nothing more classy than a 9 month pregnant lady making hooch!

Wishing: I didn't live in a political swing state right now. The political adds on TV and mail have become really bad.  I dread going to the mailbox to see how many pieces of paper either candidate has decided to shove in my mailbox to see if it will change my mind about them.  Some are sooo incredibly ridiculous too.  My favorite so far was yesterday we got an anti Obama flyer with a picture of Obama next to the soviet hammer and sickle.  Are people really influenced by this stuff?

Pregnancy: Week 37

Things seem to be progressing this week.  I have had a lot of "warm up" contractions and cramping going on.  So I guess it didn't surprise me yesterday when the doctor said that I was 1 cm dilated and 50  effaced. Little lady is currently head down and will most likely stay there.  I can't imagine she would turn since there is hardly any room left.  I can feel a lot more of her smaller movements now.  She is still  a rather mellow baby but she dislikes it when I rest my right arm on my belly and will immediate kick it off.  She also seems to be using my bladder as her personal punching bag.  It resulted in me peeing my pants one day...yes I just said that.  At least I was at home and thought it was funny. I had a feeling that was going to happen before the end of this pregnancy.  She also loves the sound of her dad's voice and usually wakes up or starts moving when he talks to her.
My body has pretty much had it with being pregnant.  I am so exhausted anymore.  I plan 1 to 2 things to do a day, like run an errand and clean the kitchen, and I am wiped out.  I can only imagine what a mess I would be if I was still working.  My new favorite symptoms are what I call "lightening crotch" where it feels like a quick and intense pain down yonder.  I also have some awesome swelling going on in my arms.  Sleeping is becoming impossible due to my arms falling asleep no matter what position I am in. They hurt during the day too but get better as the day goes on. My right hand is rather useless with fine details. This symptom has me a little freaked out but apparently it is normal for you body to start retaining fluid for the birthing process.  The doctor said your body will retain up to a liter of fluid in your extremities. A litter! I have a feeling that once I give birth it is going to be the fastest amount of weight I have ever lost between the baby and the excess fluid.
So far I have gained 50 lbs...ya.  Nothing I can do about it now. I haven't been perfect in my eating but I also haven't been terrible.  However the thought of getting back to exercising and not having to get up at 11pm for a snack has me excited.  I am thinking that I am going to have about 70 lbs to loose after this pregnancy since I would like to get down about 20 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. Hopefully breastfeeding will help with this.

My Mom with Me

When I posted the last pregnancy picture of myself on Facebook people started freaking out.  I got numerous calls and emails from people asking if I was okay.  People were having a hard time with how big I am. In my online absence I must have grown out of the "cute bump" stage and progressed into the "obscenely pregnant" stage. My mom, who lives 3 houses down from me, keeps reminding me that I am carrying exactly like I did so I made a point of digging out the picture (and posting it on Facebook) of her when she was 9 months pregnant with me.  It is uncanny to me how similar we are carrying.  You just have to keep in mind that my mom is 6 inches shorter than me at 4'10". It is a miracle I got to 5'4" since I am the tallest person on my mom's side of the family. No joke. 
I keep going back to this picture and really enjoying how happy and excited she looks. You can just see it in her face. When I asked her about it she said she was just excited to have me out of her but I know there is more to it than that. It has been really fun to watch her get excited about having a granddaughter.  I think she is just as excited this time as she was with me (maybe more).   It makes me excited for little lady to make her debut and it really makes me excited for the relationship she is going to have with her grandma.

My mom 9 months pregnant in February 1983

 

 Flat feet at birth.  It was meant to be.

 

Me at 6 weeks old with my Ronald McDonald love child red hair. 

Little lady might start life as a red head.